1985 Castrol 500

Endurance race

Layout of the Sandown Raceway international circuit (1984-1998)

The 1985 Castrol 500 was an endurance race for "Group A" Touring Cars staged at the Sandown International Motor Racing Circuit in Victoria on 15 September 1985. Race distance was 129 laps of the 3.878 km (1.928 mi) circuit, totaling 500.262 km.

The event was Round 3 of both the 1985 Australian Endurance Championship and the 1985 Australian Manufacturers' Championship. There were 36 starters, of which 21 were classified as finishers.^[1]

The race was won by the JPS Team BMW 635 CSi of Australian Touring Car Champion Jim Richards, and his co-driver Tony Longhurst. It was Longhurst's first major win in Australian touring car racing. JPS Team BMW made it a 1-2 finish when their second car, driven by Neville Crichton and on-loan Nissan team driver George Fury finished only a few seconds behind. Finishing in third place was the surprising Toyota Supra of Peter Williamson and 1985 Motorcraft Formula Ford Driver to Europe Series winner Tomas Mezera.

The 1985 Castrol 500 was the first time since 1972 that neither Peter Brock or Allan Moffat had won the Sandown enduro. 1984 Castrol 500 winner Brock, who claimed pole position with a time of 1:52.3 in his Holden Dealer Team VK Commodore SS, suffered engine failure after 41 laps, while Moffat, who was without a drive in 1985 due to Mazda not racing in Group A, was part of the ABC television commentary team.

Classes

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The field was divided into three classes according to engine displacement.^[2]

Class A : 3001 cc to 6000 cc ^[2]
Class B : 2001 cc to 3000 cc ^[2]
Class C : Up to 2000 cc ^[2]

Results

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Top 10 Qualifiers

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Pos	No.^[2]	Entrant ^[2]	Driver	Car ^[1]	Time
Pole	05	Mobil Holden Dealer Team	Australia Peter Brock	Holden VK Commodore SS ^[2]	1:52.3
2	6	Roadways Racing Services	Australia Allan Grice	Holden VK Commodore SS ^[2]	1:52.4
3	17	Palmer Tube Mills	Australia Dick Johnson	Ford Mustang GT	1:52.4
4	1	JPS Team BMW	New Zealand Jim Richards	BMW 635 CSi	1:52.7
5	55	Mark Petch	New Zealand Robbie Francevic	Volvo 240T	1:52.9
6	43	Mitsubishi Ralliart	Australia Peter Fitzgerald	Mitsubishi Starion turbo	1:53.3
7	7	Mobil Holden Dealer Team	Australia John Harvey	Holden VK Commodore SS ^[2]	1:53.7
8	42	Mitsubishi Ralliart	Australia Kevin Bartlett	Mitsubishi Starion turbo	1:54.4
9	31	JPS Team BMW	Australia George Fury	BMW 635 CSi	1:54.4
10	3	K. Baigent	New Zealand Neal Lowe	BMW 635 CSi	1:54.4

Race

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Position ^[1]	Class ^[2]	No.^[2]	Entrant ^[2]	Drivers ^[1]	Car ^[1]	Laps ^[1]
1	A	1	JPS Team BMW	New Zealand Jim Richards Australia Tony Longhurst	BMW 635 CSi	129
2	A	31	JPS Team BMW	New Zealand Neville Crichton Australia George Fury	BMW 635 CSi	129
3	B	44	Peter Williamson Toyota	Australia Peter Williamson Australia Tomas Mezera	Toyota Supra	127
4	B	47	Network Alfa	Australia Colin Bond Australia Gregg Hansford	Alfa Romeo GTV6 ^[2]	126
5	A	36	Lusty Engineering Pty Ltd	Australia Graham Lusty Australia Ken Lusty	Holden VK Commodore SS ^[2]	123
6	A	39	Sleepy Head Bedding Co.	New Zealand Graeme Bowkett New Zealand Wayne Wilkinson	Holden VK Commodore SS ^[2]	123
7	A	14	Auckland Coin & Bullion Exchange Co.	New Zealand Denny Hulme Australia Ray Smith	Holden VK Commodore SS ^[2]	121
8	A	13	Grellis Marketing	Australia Ray Ellis Australia Bernie McLure	Holden VK Commodore SS ^[2]	120
9	C	61	Toyota Team Australia	Australia Ray Cutchie New Zealand John Faulkner	Toyota Sprinter	115
10	C	57	Bob Holden Motors	Australia Bob Holden New Zealand Glenn Clark	Toyota Sprinter	115
11	C	58	Bob Holden Motors	Australia David Ratcliffe ^[2] Australia Don Smith	Toyota Sprinter	114
12	C	88	J. White	Australia John White Australia Les Szreniawski	Isuzu Gemini ZZ	112
13	B	45	Alfa City	Australia Ray Gulson Australia Frank Porter	Alfa Romeo GTV6	111
14	B	53	Hulcraft Auto	Australia John Craft Australia Les Grose	Ford Capri	107
15	B	52	Hulcraft Auto	Australia Pat Hogbin Australia John Hogbin	Ford Capri	102
16	C	64	K. Harrison	Australia Ken Harrison Australia Ian Wells	Ford Escort	100
17	B	42	Mitsubishi Ralliart	Australia Kevin Bartlett Australia Peter McKay	Mitsubishi Starion turbo ^[2]	100
18	B	50	J. L. Hazelton	Australia Laurie Hazelton Australia Jerry Stauberg	Ford Capri	100
19	A	17	Palmer Tube Mills	Australia Dick Johnson Australia Larry Perkins	Ford Mustang GT ^[2]	92
20	C	66	Jagparts Racing	Australia Lorraine Orchard Australia Paul Taylor	Triumph Dolomite	84
21	B	54	Melbourne Clutch & Brake Service	Australia Brian Sampson Australia Garry Waldon	Mitsubishi Starion turbo ^[2]	51
DNF	A	41	B. Jones	Australia Barry Jones Australia Tony Mulvihill	Holden VK Commodore SS ^[2]	92
DNF	A	24	Jagparts Racing	Australia Gerald Kay Australia Martin Power	Holden VK Commodore SS ^[2]	92
DNF	A	12	G. Willmington	Australia Gary Willmington ^[2] New Zealand Peter Janson	Jaguar XJS	81
DNF	A	7	Mobil Holden Dealer Team	Australia John Harvey Australia David Parsons	Holden VK Commodore SS ^[2]	78
DNF	A	6	Roadways Racing Services	Australia Allan Grice Australia Warren Cullen	Holden VK Commodore SS ^[2]	68
DNF	C	60	Toyota Team Australia	Australia John Smith Australia Drew Price	Toyota Corolla	66
DNF	B	49	J. Bundy	Australia John Bundy Australia Norm Carr	Mazda RX-7	65
DNF	B	55	Mark Petch	New Zealand Robbie Francevic Australia John Bowe	Volvo 240T	60
DNF	B	43	Mitsubishi Ralliart	Australia Peter Fitzgerald Australia Brad Jones	Mitsubishi Starion turbo ^[2]	50
DNF	A	21	Erle McRae Motor Sport	Australia Charlie O'Brien Australia Andrew Miedecke	BMW 635 CSi	50
DNF	A	05	Mobil Holden Dealer Team	Australia Peter Brock New Zealand David Oxton	Holden VK Commodore SS ^[2]	41
DNF	A	28	Capri Components	Australia Laurie Nelson Australia Bill O'Brien	Ford Mustang	41
DNF	A	20	J. Keogh	Australia Jim Keogh Australia Garry Rogers	BMW 635 CSi	39
DNF	A	3	K. Baigent	New Zealand Kent Baigent New Zealand Neal Lowe	BMW 635 CSi	38
DNF	C	56	M. Minear	Australia Mike Minear Australia Paul Elliott	Volvo 360 GLT	22

Notes

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Pole Position: #05 Peter Brock - Holden Commodore (VK) - 1:52.3
Fastest Lap: Dick Johnson / Larry Perkins - Ford Mustang - 1:53.6 (New lap record) ^[1]
Race Time: 4:12:26.4

References

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^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Barry Naismith, Bathurst 1985/86, page 77
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab Official Programme, Castrol 500, September 14 and 15, 1985